Crime

A White House official said Friday that legislation around cryptocurrencies is unlikely to materialize anytime soon. Speaking with CNBC at the Munich Security Conference, White House cybersecurity coordinator and special assistant to the president Rob Royce offered the dour assessment amidst a recent flurry of discussion on cryptocurrency regulation, which is playing out between Senate hearings, …

Interpol is seeking suspects on behalf of Austrian authorities who are investigating an alleged bitcoin scam that affected as many as 10,000 investors within the country and abroad, resulting in what could be tens of millions of dollars in losses. According to Bloomberg, the investigation that is underway is focused on a firm called Optioment, which …

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Thursday issued a warning about cryptocurrency pump-and-dump schemes. The release, published Thursday, marks the latest investor warning from the U.S. commodities and derivatives regulator. Earlier this month, the agency put out an advisory that urged caution around investing in cryptocurrency retirement accounts. Other regulators, namely the Securities and …

As enterprise blockchains inch closer to live launches, a group of cybersecurity experts within IBM is out to make sure clients take every step to keep their new investments secure. Adewale Omoniyi, a senior managing consultant in the biometrics and cybersecurity for IBM Global Business Services, is one such professional, and on Wednesday, he sought …

Security researchers at Cisco have released new information about a bitcoin phishing scam that involves websites masquerading as Blockchain.info, the popular online wallet service. In a blog post published Wednesday, Dave Maynor and Jeremiah O’Connor detailed the Coinhoarder phishing scam, which they said Cisco has been investigating in the past six months in partnership with the …

The undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence called on the international community for stronger cryptocurrency regulations to help protect the financial system and national security in a speech yesterday. Citing Venezuela’s recent introduction of the “petro” cryptocurrency as an example, Sigal Mandelker told the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association …

Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab reported today that a vulnerability in Telegram’s messaging app had been exploited to turn desktop computers into unwitting crypto-miners – a claim that the firm’s founder is pushing back against. The cyberattacks were uncovered by Kaspersky Lab, a global cybersecurity software provider, who reports that the covert mining operations have …

Months after China’s clampdown on initial coin offerings (ICOs), professional ICO white paper copywriters are still offering services, including fabricating information, reports suggest. The People’s Bank of China notably banned domestic initial coin offerings in September 2017, yet searches using key words such as “ICO,” “blockchain” and “whitepaper” result in dozens of online stores on …

Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, has stated that international regulatory action on cryptocurrencies is “inevitable.” Lagarde, who is the managing director of the international organization that aims to foster global financial stability, said that the IMF’s concerns over cryptocurrencies stem largely from their potential use in illicit financial activities. In an interview …

U.K. government websites and more than 4,000 others worldwide have reportedly been exploited by malware that harnesses visitors’ computers to mine cryptocurrency. According to BBC, the incident was first revealed after British security researcher Scott Helme, who raised the alarm that users browsing the website of the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) are affected by the …

The U.S. Marshals Service has successfully auctioned off approximately 3,613 bitcoins (worth nearly $30 million at press time) confiscated in various crimes. A spokesperson for the agency, which manages the sale of seized and forfeited assets, confirmed to CoinDesk today that the sale, which took place on Jan. 22, saw five successful bids. The unknown winner …

The man who helped invent the financial embargoes that cut off terrorist funding after 9/11 is concerned that cryptocurrencies could be used to undermine his creations. A former deputy assistant to U.S. President George W. Bush, and a former deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism, Juan Zarate is widely credited with helping create sanctions …

The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) intends to prioritize an examination of developments in the cryptocurrency and initial coin offering markets this year. Revealed today in the agency’s annual “examination priorities” update, the OCIE said it will broach the industry under its mandate to improve compliance, monitor risk and prevent fraud in …

Marc Hochstein is the managing editor of CoinDesk. The views expressed here are his own, so don’t blame his co-workers. The following article originally appeared in CoinDesk Weekly, a custom-curated newsletter delivered every Sunday exclusively to our subscribers. Picture two $1 bills. One is crisp and immaculate, newly arrived from the U.S. Mint. The other is crumpled …

Brian Fleming is a member of the law firm of Miller & Chevalier in Washington, D.C. With governments around the globe cracking down on all aspects of the cryptocurrency market, it seems like new regulatory risks arise every day. Add U.S. sanctions to that list. On Jan. 19, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office …

South Korean officials believe that North Korean hackers stole tens of millions of dollars’ worth in cryptocurrencies last year, according to local reports. Kyodo News reports that the National Intelligence Service (NIS), briefing the country’s lawmakers on the cyber attacks, said that phishing scams and other methods had yielded tens of billions of won in …

Texas’ securities agency has issued another cryptocurrency-focused emergency cease-and-desist order, this time against a lending scheme called DavorCoin. In its latest filing, signed Feb. 2, the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) alleges DavorCoin has been issuing unregistered securities with fraudulent and misleading information to lure investors. The filing arrives just days after the TSSB gave …

Stephen Palley is a lawyer in private practice in Washington, D.C. with the firm of Anderson Kill. The views expressed are his alone. You can find him on Twitter at @stephendpalley. One day you’re a crypto-millionaire, the next you’re a crypto-defendant. Initial coin offerings (ICOs) made crypto-news throughout 2017. Announcements of new offerings became a …

“Grumpynitis,” as he’s known on Reddit, figured he had taken every precaution he needed to protect his crypto assets. After all, he worked as a security consultant to banks, governments and multinationals. He knew how to thwart hackers. Then he read about the armed robbery. And the kidnapping. And the swatting. And he grew, in …

More than half a million machines have been hijacked by a cryptocurrency miner botnet, forcing them to mine nearly 9,000 monero tokens (worth roughly $3.6 million), according to a new report. The Smominru botnet, which infected more than 526,000 Windows servers at its peak, has been used to mine 8,900 monero tokens since it first …

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27 November 2017 – In 2017-2018, the team of crypto startup Simdaq will implement a comprehensive platform and marketplace for developing trading strategies on cryptocurrency exchanges. To date, the founders have already invested more than $1 million in the development of the project, which uses the SMQ token as its internal currency. The first stage of ...

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